CRABS (BRACHYURA) OF THE GULF OF MEXICO

Crabs of the Gulf of Mexico 55
Milhrax (Milhraculus) coryphe (Herbst, 1801) (Natur. ICrabben u. Krebse,
vol. 3, pt. 2, p. 8)
Rathbun, 192S, p. 426, pi. 153; Rathbun, 1933, p. 31.
Range: Bahamas; southeast Florida; Florida Keys; north coast of Cuba;
Jamaica; Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands to Barbados; Caribbean coast
of Panama to Colombia; Curasao; Trinidad; Ceara and Fernando de Noronha to
Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Depth: shallow water to 55 m (to 30 fm).
Habitat: in cavities of corals, rocks, and sponges; on sand, broken shell, grass,
and mud bottoms.
Remarks: Listed from Brazil by Coelho and Ramos (1972).
Milhrax (Milhraculus) forceps (A. Milne Edwards, 1875) (Crust. Reg. Mex.,
p. 109)
Hay & Shore, 1918, p. 457, pi. 38, fig. 1; Rathbun, 1925, p. 431, pi. 156; Rathbun,
1933, p. 32; Chace, 1940, p. 67; "Williams, 1965, p. 258, figs. 238, 245E; Pequegnat
& Ray, 1974, p. 236, figs. 1-4.
Range: Bermuda; North Carolina to south Florida; Florida Keys and Dry
Tortugas; west and northwest coasts of Florida; West Flower Garden Bank, off
Texas; south coast of Cuba; Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Barbados;
Old Providence Island (Carib.); Netherlands Antilles; Venezuela; Trinidad;
Ceara to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Depth: intertidal to 90 m (to 49 fm).
Habitat: under stones and dead coral; in crevices along rocky shores and reefs;
in sponges; on sand, shell, coral, rock, and grass bottoms.
Remarks: Ovigerous females have been reported from Florida in November to
February, from the Gulf of Mexico in February, and from the southern Caribbean
in April, mid-summer, September, and November (Williams, 1965). Listed
from northwest Florida by Wass (1955), Abele (1970), and Menzel (1971).
Chace (1956) recorded this crab from the Gulf of Mexico collections of the R/V
Oregon and Pequegnat and Ray (1974) state that this species is one of the most
common brachyurans on the West Flower Garden reefs, often taken on sponges.
Williams (1965) reports this crab from the sponge, Stematumenia strobilinia, off
North Carolina. Lebour (1944) described some of the larval stages. Threat
behavior was described and illustrated by Schone (1968). Listed from Brazil by
Coelho (1971a, 1971c), Coelho and Ramos (1972) and FaustoFilho (1974).
Milhrax (Milhraculus) ruber (Stimpson, 1871) (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 2:
118)
Rathbun, 1925, p. 432, pi. 157; Rathbun, 1933, p. 32.
Range: north coast of Cuba; Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands to Barbados;
Curasao.
Depth: shallow water to 46 m (to 25 fm), rare to 154m (84fm).
Habitat: sand, shell, grass, coral, and mud substrates; off coral reefs; in
sponges.